Nov
15
I аm trying tο stay within a ,000 budget, bυt wе аrе inviting around 300 people аחԁ want tο һаνе a fаחtаѕtіс wedding. Wе һаνе חοt уеt chosen a date аחԁ wе want tο һаνе аח outdoor wedding.
Tags: budget, outdoor wedding
$10,000 is a lot. I did my wedding for about $7500 and we were originally going to have about 150-175 people. About 125 really showed up.
Do you want the whole thing outdoors or just the ceremony?
One thing about an outdoor ceremony is that you don’t need a lot of decorations. You are in nature after all that is the decoration.
Shop around for locations. Public parks are usually available free or low cost, if you have a nice one by where you live.
Look around to you have any Gardens, Arboretums, or Nature Parks in the area?
I had my ceremony at a local Arboretum. My location fee was $190 plus $0.80/chair, plus $20 for a runner and $20 to have electricity piped out the location. Be forewarned my electricity didn’t end up panning out…excellent thing we had batteries in the boom box/stereo we were using and we just made sure to speak loudly. No one had a problem hearing us.
For reception, you will either need to rent a tent, tables, chairs, etc…This can get expensive. I would urge an indoor location for this. They usually already have tables, chairs, etc… And won’t charge you for them. Look around for a place, question friends and relatives. I finished up having my reception at a senior focal top (trust me NOT as terrible as it sounds). It was a gorgeous location, but not very well known. My room was $290. Most other places I checked started out about $500-$1000. Plus this place had really pretty windows. And I didn’t want to feel closed in, in some dark basement location somewhere.
Negotiate your food (you know what, EVERYTHING is negotiatible). Pick a theme of what to supply. Two main courses that use similar ingredients. I served Chinese food. Chicken Lo Mein and Beef Lo Mein with a bunch of sides. Cost me $10/person. There original buffet menu started out at $16.50/person and went up.
Gather up all of your creative family and friends. Have them help you make things. Buy fabric in the clearance section of the store. The stuff I got was perfectly fine I only paid like $1-$2/yard instead of $10-$15 or higher.
Make your own invitations (http://www.paperandmore.com/pointer.html is a fantastic place to start). Bake your own cake (or maybe your Aunt is a baker and can make you one for your wedding gift).
Look for sales, if your wedding isn’t anytime soon (once you set the date), keep an eye for sales. You have plenty of time to find the things to you.
eBay is brilliant for finding items you might need (I bought tons of stuff off eBay for my wedding). Shop around on the internet. Wedding website shops, might seem like the best place to shop, but they are NOT. They tend to charge you double, sometime quadruple the price, some of these items cost somewhere else on the internet.
For example I used 1/2 pint Chinese take out containers for my favor boxes. At theknot.com they are $9.95 for a pack of 10 ($0.995/each) or at http://www.papermart.com they are $4.65 for a pack of 50 ($0.09/each). So if you look around you can save money.
As for a Photographer, also look around. The person I went with was just trying to fill up for the rest of the year (that way when someone called they could just say I’m sorry we are booked instead of having to look up dates). I finished up getting $1,000 off my package, yes I said $1,000!
Also we just had a keg of beer and killer kool-aid as our alcoholic drinks of choice. It’s a lot cheaper if you go with a couple of specialty drinks or go alcohol free. The cost of booze can very quickly place a dent into your budget.
As far as actual wedding dates go…do all or the majority of your guest live in the area (within 1/2 hour to 45 minutes)? If so you might want to look into a Friday Evening Wedding. They are cheaper than a Saturday. Also, Holidays tend to be more expensive.
If you need anymore information you can just go to my profile page and email me. If I have an thought of where you can get what you are looking for (if you have a touch in mind) I’m more than willing to share.
Congratulations!
Try to make things yourself. I made my own veil and we made the centerpieces that go on the tables. I had a friend help with the flowers and music. Shop around, compare prices. I had an elegant wedding with a western flare. Excellent luck!
For that amount of money and that size guest list, I strongly suggest having a cake and champagne reception instead of a full course meal. It is still elegant (so long as the invitations say "cake and champagne reception") and you’ll save a lot of money.
well, that would depend on a few factors. Where you live. I am sure they have pretty cheap places around your town/city. Don’t hire a wedding planner. Browse around for best places, all I can say I guess. Spend a lot of time researching. Sometimes non- American places such as photography, flowers,limo, etc. will give you much much better deal. Buy the bridemaids dress at David’s Marriage, they have a fantastic selection!!! Have the wedding in Spring or Late Fall, less busy and less money. And it’s completely possiable!
And congrats!!!
then go have your wedding outside your home with a grill party.
The first key that you indicated here is outdoor … this pretty much foliage the possibility open that you will stay within your budget. Have 1 bartender, 2 at the most, and keep your dinner mostly finger foods that are still elegant.
You can skip the programs all together and save a excellent $500 or you can have DIY programs that are on a single sheet of paper and spend around $75.
For music, question a friend that is excellent with music or make your own CD’s of the music that you like before hand. You can rent a sound system honestly cheap or bring a nice portable stereo of your own to play the music.
For your dress, try David’s marriage, you will be shocked at the gorgeous dresses they have in the $100-500 range. I couldn’t believe it, I spent more on my prom dress back in ‘98 than I did on my wedding dress!
You can question a friend that is handy with a camera to take the wedding shots for you and with it being outdoors, you are sure to get some gorgeous pictures.
I would suggest that you splurge a small bit and get a tent in case in case it should rain or be too warm for all of your guests in the heat.
-EZ
You have too many people invited for that budget. You cannot have an elegant wedding for that many people without sacrifizing the quality of the the overall affair. What do you rather do… invitad half the town and give them a mediocre meal and cheap liquor, or cut your guest list in half , inviting people that you truly care about and give them a wonderful experience with delicate and elegant touches.
A huge event will only leave you stressed out, you won’t be able to socialize with evryone, and you will incur in more and more expenses!
Excellent luck!
Start now by buying your own decorations, ribbon, netting, silk flowers, table decorations, and get creative, or get some tip’s from your local craft stores they will be glad to help make bows ect. Depending on what time you are getting married, you could go with appetizers, an assortment of your favorite deserts, chocolates ect… along with a small wedding cake, or you could do a brunch buffet, ambrosia salad, & mimosa’s, play your own recorded music, such as a diversity of classical, simple listening, then jazz it up as the affair goes on, that would take the place of a DJ. There are a lot of cost cutting ways to have a gorgeous wedding day….keep it small, cozy, relaxed affair and don’t get too caught up in too many details or you will just drive yourself crazy, just remember one thing people come to share the in your joy and just have a excellent time. Congratulations and Best Wishes to You and Your Fiance’.
Here are a few:
1) Splurge on the food - people will have a fantastic time at your wedding if they are fed and fed well.
2) Do your own invitations.
3) Keep the centerpieces simple.
4) If you can, have the reception at the ceremony site - it will save people time and eliminate the need for a limo.
5) Keep the party favors simple.
Have a fantastic wedding!!!
WOW 300 people and you have $10,000 to spend? Go to the Creative Ways to Save board on http://www.weddingchannel.com. You can always use silk flowers instead of real flowers, you can gave a grocery store bakery make your wedding cake instead of a high end bakery, also there are marriage stores online where you can get inexpensive bridesmaid,MOH, and wedding dresses. You can also have a bufffet which would be cheaper than a sit down dinner You can have a classy buffet without it being tacky. I know some people say that buffets are tacky but there are ways for it be classy. Also DIY projects can save you money verses paying someone to do things like invitations and save the date cards and things like that. I have faith that you can defitely pull off your wedding on a $10,000 budget. Also dont forget to negotiate with vendors.
Also another way to save on a wedding is to have it at a hotel a lot of hotels have wedding packages that include cake, photographer, etc.
A guy in another post said that he and his wife had a reception at a resort/hotel where they just had an open bar and appetizers and the guest found restaurants to eat at so they could pay for their own dinner. So that will save lots of money.
Don’t go overboard on the decorations.
You could buy your dresses used or rent them, and nobody knows except you tell them.
Use nature as decorations, use flowers that are in season and in a loved ones garden for your bouquets and boutonnieres.
Make your own invitations and answer cards, they can look as excellent as the ones you buy.
Do research on the DJ, caterers, photographers, etc, don’t just take the first one that is available. You can always bargain with them too. They set their prices but will often change them a small bit to have you choose them!
Check out budgetbride.com
as well as some of the marriage message boards and sites to see how other brides are handling the budget saving things.
If you are having an outdoor wedding, pick a place that is naturally gorgeous - lots of flowers, a lake view, etc. If its already gorgeous, you will have a very smallest amount of decorating needed!
As someone suggested don’t do a full meal. Either do an appetizer type buffet (if you are serving alcohol you have to have some food around for people to eat). Instead of an open bar consider a bottle or two of wine per table and non alcoholic drinks at the buffet table. Or a cash bar for those that want more than whats on the table.
$10,000 will do just fine, but how creative are you? Do your own centerpices, (go online to view some thoughts) which should be very simple since you have the outdoors for your atmosphere. A buffet is the only way to go since it’s outdoors too. Keep your flowers simple too. A tent is a must because you never know how the weather is going to be. David’s Marriage is a fantastic place to shop for dresses. Do you have to invite 300 people? Really take a look at the list. When was the last time you saw some of these people? Call around and check with photographers. See what they offer and compare prices. Is this going to be at a park or people club. The park would be cheaper. As for the liquor, only offer wine, and beer, and champage only for the toast. With doing the outdoors thing, you may have to rent tables, chairs and table coverings. Are you wanting a band or DJ? A DJ would be cheaper, but make sure you two are on the same page as to what kind of music you would want. Being outside, you will have to rent a dance floor too. Talk to you caterer about servers too. Do you want someone going around with trays of drinks? I’d get a bar setup (for that many people, maybe two) and let people go get their own drinks and food. You can get deals at various stores if you buy in bulk. Again, talk to your caterer and see what they have to offer. Don’t stress too much, as even the best plotted weddings never go off without a touch going incorrect. It’s just a touch to laugh about in the years to come. Excellent Luck!
Sherry already answered you and she has some really fantastic suggestions and thoughts. I looked at her photos and her centerpieces were fantastic for the outdoors.
Instead of a formal dinner - you could have a cocktail reception party and supply elegant fingerfoods. You could have a band instead of a DJ- they are less money. Also make your own centerpieces and guest favors.
once you have an thought of how you want things to look, try to do as much of it by yourself as you can. get the help of your bridesmaids too. choose which elements are the most vital to you, and which ones you don’t really care about, and deliver the costs appropriately.
Do what alot of Hispanic people due. Get people to sponsor your wedding. Have some one be the limo sponsor. Have someone be the cake sponsor. That way you don’t have to spend money on this things and use it for others. Tip: When you have sponsors a way to say thank you is by announcing their names on the invitation.
10k is a lot of money, you should be able to come well below that mark and still have an elegant wedding. if you want to cut down on costs you could skip the sit down dinner and have a buffet instead. Just supply off of real dishes and it will look fantastic. Find a dress on ebay (I did) and spend less money. I’d really say go and try on dresses so you know what style you’re looking for, and have your measurements taken, then find one on ebay that meets what you want. As far as flowers go, make your own preparations. Buy the flowers in bulk (if you like tulips try http://www.growingtulips.com). Bouquets, boutineers and corsages are all simple and if you’re like me you want to have your bachelorette party the week before so you’re not too tired, and instead the night before you can make the floral preparations with friends and go to bed early. Skp the pricy wedding favors, that no one really wants or keeps anyway. Provide a touch simple instead.
When I got married, we did the ceremony in my parents back yard. It is in a woody area with a creek in succession owing to it. gorgeous. We had the reception at a local bar in town. My wedding cost 3200.00. not too expensive, but it was a gorgeous wedding
Friday weddings or Sunday weddings are considerably cheaper. Also look for favors on line you can find a lot at places like favorwarehouse.com and wrapwithus.com.